Kylie and her parents had been driving through the outback for hours. They had taken a five-hour flight from Sydney, where they lived, to Perth, in Western Australia. From Perth, they had to drive another seven hours to get to Kylie′s aunt and uncle′s sheep station.

Emily. Em-il-y, three syllables, like a knock on the door of destiny. Such an odd, old-fashioned name, compared to those Kylies and Traceys and Jades — names that reeked of Impulse and grease and stood out in gaudy neon colours —